Electronic appliance

ABSTRACT

An electronic appliance, in particular a car radio, has a housing ( 1 ) which has, in front of a front side ( 2 ), a front flap ( 3 ) which has a display ( 7 ) and/or operating elements ( 8 ) and can be pivoted by means of a single drive ( 11 ) from a vertical position closing the housing ( 1 ) into an obliquely inclined position lying with its lower edge in front of the housing ( 1 ) and with its upper edge below the upper edge of the housing ( 1 ) and thereby releasing an upper region ( 4 ) of the front side ( 2 ) of the housing ( 1 ). For this purpose, the upper edge of the front flap ( 3 ) can be hinged to a vertical guide ( 12 ), while the lower edge is held such that it can be moved linearly in the horizontal direction by means of a sliding-out means ( 9 ) which can be moved by the drive ( 11 ).

[0001] The invention relates to an electronic appliance, in particular acar radio, having a housing which has, in front of a front side, a frontflap which has a display and/or operating elements and can be pivoted bymotor from a vertical position closing the housing into an obliquelyinclined position lying with its lower edge in front of the housing andwith its upper edge below the upper edge of the housing and therebyreleasing an upper region of the front side of the housing.

[0002] The front side of electronic appliances is often not of asufficient size in order to be able to accommodate the devices to beprovided there. If, for example, a car radio has a cavity for cassettesand a cavity for compact discs, then the space for a sufficiently largedisplay below the cavities is frequently no longer sufficient. In suchcases, it has turned out to be expedient if the front flap is ofmoveable design, so that it can be moved by motor into a position inwhich an upper region of the front side is released by it. It is thenpossible, for example, to arrange the two required cavities in thisregion which becomes free.

[0003] In the case of the previously known electronic appliances havinga moveable front flap of this type, the upper edge of the front flap ishinged to a slide which can be moved by motor in a vertical guide, andthe lower edge of the front flap is hinged to a sliding-out means whichcan be moved by motor into the housing of the appliance or can be movedout of it. Two drives are therefore always required in order to move thefront flap and these drives have to be coordinated with each other interms of control so that the front flap is able to pass from a preciselyvertical position into the desired release position. The knownelectronic appliances are of relatively complicated design because ofthis.

[0004] The invention is based on the problem of designing an electronicappliance of the type mentioned at the beginning in such a manner thatthe means for moving its front flap by motor between a vertical endposition and an operating position releasing an upper region of thefront side are of the simplest possible design.

[0005] According to the invention, this problem is solved by the frontflap being linked to a single drive for bringing about the pivotingmovement releasing the upper region of the front side of the housing.

[0006] Since, according to the invention, only a single drive isprovided for moving the front flap, the necessity of mutuallycoordinating two drives is inapplicable, with the result that thecontrol of the front flap is substantially simplified. Said control justneeds to be designed in such a manner that the drive, once switched on,is switched off when the particular end position is reached, for whichpurpose limit switches, for example, can be used.

[0007] One embodiment, which can be realized in a simple manner, of theinvention consists in that the upper edge of the front flap is hinged toa vertical guide and the lower edge is held such that it can be movedlinearly in the horizontal direction, and in that the drive is providedfor moving the lower edge of the front flap.

[0008] The ability of the lower edge of the front flap to move linearlycan be realized in a simple manner structurally by the lower edge beinghinged to a sliding-out means which can be moved rectilinearly into thehousing, and by the drive being designed for displacing the sliding-outmeans relative to a drawer-type guide arranged within the housing.

[0009] A single straight-line guide is sufficient for guiding the frontflap if one edge of the front flap is held such that it can be movedlinearly by means of the drive, and if for further guiding of the frontplate a connecting rod is provided which is mounted pivotably about aswivel joint fixed on the housing and is hinged by its other end to thefront plate at a distance from the linearly moveable edge of the frontplate. An embodiment of this type requires just one straight-line guideinstead of two.

[0010] The vertical guide for the front flap can be entirely omitted if,according to another advantageous development of the invention, thelower edge of the front flap is arranged in a linearly displaceablemanner along a straight line and if the swivel joint is arranged levelwith the straight line along which the lower edge of the front flap isable to move.

[0011] Alternatively, however, it is also possible for the upper edge ofthe front flap to be arranged displaceably on a vertical guide and forthe swivel joint of the connecting rod to be arranged on the lower sideof the front side.

[0012] For operating purposes the front flap passes into a virtuallyhorizontal position if provision is made for the swivel joint to bearranged in the housing behind the vertical guide at a spatial distancefrom the vertical guide.

[0013] It is particularly cost-effective if the drive is a rotary drivefor driving the swivel joint of the connecting rod.

[0014] Straight-line guides can be entirely omitted if, according to aparticularly advantageous development of the invention, provision ismade for a linkage rod to be connected rotatably by one end to a pivotbearing and to be hinged by its other end to the front flap, for bothends of the linkage rod each to have a pulley which cannot be rotatedrelative to the linkage rod, the pulley at the front-flap end having asmaller diameter than the pulley at the pivot-bearing end, and for thetwo pulleys to be connected to each other by a belt. A mechanism of thistype only requires space in the front region of the electronicappliance.

[0015] The front plate can be pivoted without any problem from itsvertical position into a completely horizontal position if provision ismade for the pulley at the front-flap end to be half the diameter of thepulley at the pivot-bearing end.

[0016] Instead of using two pulleys in order to avoid straight-lineguides, provision may alternatively be made for two swivel joints to beprovided for guiding the front flap, a lower swivel joint of which beingarranged level with the lower edge of the front side and an upper swiveljoint of which being arranged set back within the housing of theappliance, and for the upper swivel joint to be hinged to a connectingrod in the vicinity of the upper edge of the front flap and the lowerswivel joint to be hinged by a further connecting rod to the front flapin the central region thereof. A four-membered linkage of this typepermits freedom with regard to the position of the opened front flap.

[0017] The invention permits various embodiments. To further clarify itsbasic principle a number of these are illustrated in the drawing and aredescribed below. In the drawing

[0018]FIG. 1 shows a schematic longitudinal section through anelectronic appliance according to the invention,

[0019] FIGS. 2-8 show different schematic diagrams of a mechanism formoving a front flap of the appliance.

[0020] The electronic appliance illustrated in FIG. 1, which is intendedto concern a car radio, has a housing 1 having a front side 2 againstwhich a front flap 3 bears. This front flap 3 can be moved by amechanism (to be described later) from the position which is illustratedby solid lines and which completely covers the front side 2 into anobliquely oriented operating position which is illustrated bydash-dotted lines and in which it releases an upper region 4 of thefront side 2. In this upper region 4 two cavities 5, 6 are providedwithin the housing 1, the upper one of which can be designed to playcompact discs and the other one of which can be designed to playcassettes. On its front side, the front flap 3 has a large display 7 anda plurality of operating elements 8 below it for the car radio.

[0021] In the lower region of the housing 1, a sliding-out means 9 isarranged displaceably in a drawer-type guide 10. The front side of thissliding-out means 9 is connected to the front flap 3 in the vicinity ofthe lower edge thereof. A drive 11 is able to move the sliding-out means9 out of the housing 1 to the right, as seen in FIG. 1, into thedash-dotted position. In the vicinity of the upper edge the front flap 3is guided in a vertical guide 12.

[0022] If the drive 11 is activated, the sliding-out means 9 is movedout of the housing 1. By this means, the lower edge of the front flap 3is moved away from the front side 2, while its upper edge is moveddownward in the vertical guide 12. In the end position of the front flap3 (illustrated by dash-dotted lines) the upper region 4 of the frontside 2 is exposed, with the result that a CD or a cassette can berespectively inserted into the corresponding cavity 5 or 6.

[0023]FIG. 2 serves to additionally clarify the sequence of movement ofthe front flap 3. The latter is illustrated in this figure by a thick,solid line in the operating position and by dash-dotted lines in variousintermediate positions. The sliding-out means 9 is designed in FIG. 2 asa rack which can be displaced linearly by a pinion 13 of the drive 11 inthe drawer-type guide 10. In the vicinity of its upper edge, the frontflap 3 is hinged to a slide 14 which can be displaced on a verticalguide 12. In order to be able to pass from the illustrated operatingposition of the front flap 3 back into the vertical position solelyusing the drive 11, the angle α between the front flap 3 and thesliding-out means 9 may not be smaller than approximately 30°.

[0024] In the embodiment according to FIG. 3 a vertical straight-lineguide has been omitted. The lower edge of the front flap 3 is hinged toa moveable sliding-out means 9, precisely as in the above-describedexemplary embodiment. In order to dispense with the vertical guide, useis made of a swivel joint 15 from which a connecting rod 16 leads to acentral region of the front flap 3, where it is hinged to the latter. Inthis embodiment, instead of displacing the sliding-out means 9, thedrive 11 could also be provided on the swivel joint 15 or, for example,at the point where the connecting rod 16 is hinged to the front flap 3,for the purpose of pivoting the connecting rod 16.

[0025]FIG. 4 shows a kinematic reverse arrangement of the mechanismaccording to FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the sliding-out means 9 hasbeen dispensed with and in its place a vertical guide 12 as in FIGS. 1and 2 has again been provided. In the same manner as in FIG. 3, theconnecting rod 16 leads from the swivel joint 15 to the front flap 3whose lower edge now, however, ends completely freely. The upper edge ofthe front flap 3 is in turn connected to the slide 14 which is able tobe displaced on the vertical guide 12. Of course, it is possible in allof the embodiments to dispense with a slide and instead, for example, toallow pins to engage in a slotted guide.

[0026] In the embodiment according to FIG. 5, the swivel joint 15 hasbeen offset away from the vertical guide 12 toward the inside of theappliance. This enables the front flap 3 to assume a virtuallyhorizontal position in the open position.

[0027] The embodiment according to FIG. 6 is distinguished in thatstraight-line guides have been entirely dispensed with. For thispurpose, a pivot bearing 17 has been provided with a linkage rod 18leading from it to the front flap 3 to which it is hinged. In the pivotbearing 17 the linkage rod 18 can be rotated synchronously by a pulley19, while it can be pivoted relative to the front flap 3 synchronouslyby a further pulley 20 which is half the diameter of the pulley 19. Thetwo pulleys 19, 20 are connected to each other by a belt 21 which may,for example, be a toothed belt or a wire connected fixedly to the twopulleys 19, 20. The belt 21 ensures that the front flap 3 isincreasingly pivoted into the horizontal as the linkage rod 18 is beingpivoted downward.

[0028] In the embodiment according to FIGS. 7 and 8, a connecting rod 16leads from the swivel joint 15 to a central region of the front flap 3precisely as in the embodiments according to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. However,in addition a further swivel joint 22 is provided with a connecting rod23 leading from it to the upper edge of the front flap 3 where it ishinged to the latter. This produces a four-membered linkage whichmanages entirely without straight-line guides and whose movementsrequire a single drive, for example in the swivel joint 15.

1. An electronic appliance, in particular a car radio, having a housingwhich has, in front of a front side, a front flap which has a displayand/or operating elements and can be pivoted by motor from a verticalposition closing the housing into an obliquely inclined operatingposition lying with its lower edge in front of the housing and with itsupper edge below the upper edge of the housing and thereby releasing anupper region of the front side of the housing, wherein the front flap(3) is linked to a single drive (11) for bringing about the pivotingmovement releasing the upper region of the front side (2) of the housing(1).
 2. The electronic appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein theupper edge of the front flap (3) is hinged to a vertical guide (12) andthe lower edge is held such that it can be moved linearly in thehorizontal direction, and wherein the drive (11) is provided for movingthe lower edge of the front flap (3).
 3. The electronic appliance asclaimed in claim 2 , wherein the lower edge is hinged to a sliding-outmeans (9) which can be moved rectilinearly into the housing (1), and thedrive (11) is designed for displacing the sliding-out means (9) relativeto a drawer-type guide (10) arranged within the house (1).
 4. Theelectronic appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein one edge of thefront flap (3) is held such that it can be moved linearly by means ofthe drive (11), and wherein for further guiding of the front plate (3) aconnecting rod (16) is provided which is mounted pivotably about aswivel joint (15) fixed on the housing and is hinged by its other end tothe front flap (3) at a distance from the linearly moveable edge of thefront flap (3).
 5. The electronic appliance as claimed in claim 4 ,wherein the lower edge of the front flap (3) is arranged in a linearlydisplaceable manner along a straight line (sliding-out means 9) and theswivel joint (15) is arranged level with the straight line (sliding-outmeans 9) along which the lower edge of the front flap (3) is able tomove.
 6. The electronic appliance as claimed in claim 4 , wherein theupper edge of the front flap (3) is arranged displaceably on a verticalguide (12) and the swivel joint (15) of the connecting rod (16) isarranged on the lower side of the front side (2).
 7. The electronicappliance as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the swivel joint (15) isarranged in the housing (1) behind the vertical guide (12) at a spatialdistance from the vertical guide (12).
 8. The electronic appliance asclaimed in claim 6 , wherein the drive (11) is a rotary drive fordriving the swivel joint (15) of the connecting rod (16).
 9. Theelectronic appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a linkage rod (18)is connected rotatably by one end to a pivot bearing (17) and is hingedby its other end to the front flap (3), wherein both ends of the linkagerod (18) each have a pulley (19, 20) which cannot be rotated relative tothe linkage rod (18), the pulley (20) at the front-flap end having asmaller diameter than the pulley (19) at the pivot-bearing end, andwherein the two pulleys (19, 20) are connected to each other by a belt(21).
 10. The electronic appliance as claimed in claim 9 , wherein thepulley (20) at the front-flap end is half the diameter of the pulley(19) at the pivot-bearing end.
 11. The electronic appliance as claimedin claim 1 , wherein two swivel joints (15, 22) are provided for guidingthe front flap (3), a lower swivel joint (15) of which being arrangedlevel with the lower edge of the front side (2) and an upper swiveljoint (22) of which being arranged set back within the housing (1) ofthe appliance, and wherein the upper swivel joint (22) is hinged to aconnecting rod (23) in the vicinity of the upper edge of the front flap(3) and the lower swivel joint (15) is hinged by a further connectingrod (16) to the front flap (3) in the central region thereof.